star firestar m40

This is a discussion on star firestar m40 within the Defensive Carry Guns forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; just wondering how reliable these stars are i never had a problem with my bm or model largo 9mm,what weight .40 s w shell would ...

star firestar m40

just wondering how reliable these stars are i never had a problem with my bm or model largo 9mm,what weight .40 s w shell would be recomended for shooting,never had a .40 but this pistol is real cheap,and it looks and feels great. thanks mike.

just wondering how reliable these stars are i never had a problem with my bm or model largo 9mm,what weight .40 s w shell would be recomended for shooting,never had a .40 but this pistol is real cheap,and it looks and feels great. thanks mike.

Never fired one, but I tend to assume that anything that is "real cheap" is so for a reason.

Parts

Good guns but parts are totally unavailable. It should shoot any .40 load, but if it breaks you might end up with a paperweight. I have customer with a bad safety lever on a 9mm and we are now trying to have a part welded for it custom.

I love them. I learned to shoot semi-auto on my uncles Firestar M40. First Auto I had ever shot and I love it, Good holsters can be hard to find but from my experience the gun eats everything and shoots well even with inexperienced shooters.

lots of pistols marked down,225.00 for various ruger p89 and a few smith and wessons cheap with thin finishes,yeah i figured 199.00 for a nice .40 cal.star.from my friend at my local shop,and it checked out fine,total was 224.00 and guess what he was packin conceal carry behind the counter,a star pd .45 ,i never seen one till today,he loves it,it was slick but this firestar is slick probably 90 percent.i did find a few parts and a person to contact on gunboards that has parts, also m@m gunsmith has an ex star armourer that makes custom extractors and various parts needed.i was gave their phone number just in case.

The Firestar's are good reliable guns from back in the 80's & early 90's. A bit on the chunky side, but heavy enough to tame most loads. They came in blue and the nickel "starvel" finish. They came in 9, 40 and 45's called the PD version. I remember when all those Star BM's came in surplus [had an 03 FFL then] and were going for $129.00 - still a great steel cc weapon; medium sized but thin. Many were in Ex condition. You might also want to look for a Star Ultrastar - polymer gun that I think was their last one before going belly up...nice gun, very low bore axis.

The Firestar M45 was an all steel pistol like the M40 and M43[9mm].
I had an M40 and loved it. The 45 cal Star "PD" was the first alloy framed lightweight officers sized pistol first marketed in the mid 70s IIRC. I still have 1 and G-D willing, will never part with it!
Parts can be hard to come by.

Of the three Spanish pistol makers I always liked the Astra and Star guns. Never was much impressed with the Llama products.

I agree with you on the Astra. Have a A-75 .40 cal. Was my first carry gun, now relegated to the role of night stand gun. Also have to agree about the LLama. Had one back in the early 80's that I trade some tools for. 32ACP that decided to start double fire then jam. Wasn't worth the money to fix, so smashed the frame, bent the barrel and watched it sink into the bottom of a water filled sandpit.

just wondering how reliable these stars are i never had a problem with my bm or model largo 9mm,what weight .40 s w shell would be recomended for shooting,never had a .40 but this pistol is real cheap,and it looks and feels great. thanks mike.

Star firearms are generally well made and respected guns. I have had a M43 (9mm) Firestar for over 20 years and its been a very very reliable and solid handgun. As mentioned above parts might be an issue at some point of ownership, but I persoanlly have never needed a new part for mine to this point. I don't shoot it that often now since I have so many handguns to play with but I would not hesitate to carry it. They are all steel guns so they are heavy for the size of frame. If you get a real good price I would get it.

I also have owned a Firestar M43 9mm for about 20 years. It looks just like the one Pirate posted. Never gave me a problem. I carried it for years when I traveled. I shot it a lot and love the way it shoots. Nice weight, so little recoil. I agree parts may become an issue, but I've never needed any.

Good guns but parts are totally unavailable. It should shoot any .40 load, but if it breaks you might end up with a paperweight. I have customer with a bad safety lever on a 9mm and we are now trying to have a part welded for it custom.

Have you checked out STAR (Jorge) over at Gunboards
I ordered a safety spring & plunger for a Star Model F 22lr that I couldn't find anywhere and it took only 8 days shipping from Spain. This guy has probably the nicest collection of old Spanish pistols anywhere.

yeah i took the plunge and bought it, they did have an ultrastar for 229.00 it was a cool polymer frame,nice gun,ive alwys wanted a .40 cal.though, ive heard of that star guy,any parts except frames and barrells can be had from him.also they have 4 more firestars in back cleaning them up he said.ill check em out later.stay safe.

I have a M40 and it has never failed to fire. It is small, but heavy. But, touch off a full house .40 and you want some weight. I also have used Jorge for parts. One warning about the Firestar: be careful when taking it apart, align the marks on the slide up and do not let it slip when you press in the slide stop lever. If you slip, and it goes in when the marks are not lined up.....you can not get the gun apart. You have to grind off the press fit pin to lever joint. Jorge had a new lever and told me I was not the only one to do that. Had taken that little pistol apart probably 70 times, and just a slip can ruin your day. The only thing I have heard is that the firing pin can be broken on early models, so I bought a pin and spring from him just in case. There is nothing wrong with the Firestar, except in a pocket, ya need a belt.